U.S. Shows More Interest in Twinkies than Israel

Two major news stories have developed post-election in the United States. The first is the escalating conflict Gaza. The second is the announcement that Hostess is going out of business. If search queries are any measure of interest, then Americans are certainly more concerned about the loss of their Twinkies.

Early this week, militant missiles from Gaza prompted military action from Israel, and the conflict appears to be escalating. Initial reports suggest 50-100 people have died and hundreds more are injured. On Friday, Hostess announced it would be closing shop, threatening the existence of the iconic Twinkie baked cake.

Here is a Google Trends graph in the U.S. for the past seven days. The term “hostess” (red line) has reached an all time high, while the term “israel” (blue line) still hasen’t surpassed the interest it received during the short-lived conflict between Israel and Lebanon in 2009.

Even though the Twinkie is likely to survive the Hostess closure, Americans have raided stores and have pushed up prices for the remaining lot.

To be fair, happenings in the Israel-Palestinian conflict are much more common, so the news is less of a shocker. Nevertheless, America’s selective attention may be cause for concern. Without outcries for peace from the American public, future U.S. impact on the peace process is more likely to be benign.

4 comments to U.S. Shows More Interest in Twinkies than Israel

the reason twinkies are more important than what the fucking zionist occupiers in palastine are doing in gaza, (mass murder) is because the US is well and truely kissing zionist arse. the US support for the zionists is exactly the same as giving support to "adolf hitler", (oh, i forgot, many americans DID.!)

No, Remember I told you I don't do that (except under extreme circumstance like death threats and such) the akismet comment filter put your comments into a "pending" pen I think because of some of the dual and combinations of expletives you used?